Mental Health after Love loss! Life Anew Is Within Reach

Story of Brokenness - Tony Ivosic

- It was 2006 when my maternal Grandmother and I were talking about her Colon cancer returning. Our discussion focused on how she did not have the strength to go through the same treatments. The Matriarch and her first-born grandchild would pray for guidance and have faith God is with us each and every day. 

- In April of that year I had been having health issues. My doctor scheduled a Colonoscopy and the results came back Stage 2 Colon-Rectal cancer. The conversations with my 80-year-old Grandmother changed dramatically for me a 44-year-old husband and father of 2 children. 

- Over the next 8 months I underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and multiple surgeries. With the cancer removed the doctor wanted to complete the chemotherapy treatment as prescribed. My body was not ready for the chemicals, which put me in the hospital for 2 weeks. They call it Chemo fog but I believe my faith in God and the prayers of my Grandmother gave me the strength to survive. I was discharged from the hospital but apparently not done. 

- When at home the next day I had what I would call "My near-death experience". I went to sit down in my Lazy-boy chair ending up on the floor. There was no pain, a lightness of being looking down at myself, and I could hear everything. My wife and daughter were talking just before my daughter was bringing up Popsicle to check on me. I was not ready to go! This time 2 more weeks at Duke and 4 days of my life I have no clue. I received a card with the poem "Footprints in the Sand" that gave me God's perspective, I was not alone. 

- My Grandmother's journey was ending at this time and my mother had to make a choice. Grandma made a promise not to pass on the Lord's day. She died December 26, 2006; I never got a chance to say goodbye. 

- These challenges tested my Body and Mind in ways never experienced before, changing the way I looked at my life with family, friends, and faith. Spiritually, 5 years later I would be devastated with pain far worse for me than cancer or the loss of my Grandmother.